ABSTRACT

Despite a robust legacy of scholarship that has critiqued participation in development, the relationship between participation and empowerment remains unclear. Adelanto is a small non governmental organisation in Chiapas, Mexico, engaged in radical participatory community development. Using an ethnographic approach, we examined Adelanto’s politicised participatory approach, analysing assumptions that attempt to link radical participation with empowerment. Our findings illustrate Adelanto’s commitment to a participatory approach defined by solidarity as critical to their success in advancing participant self-mobilisation. These results represent new insight into linkages between participation, empowerment, and emancipation by demonstrating the centrality of downward accountability within localised development praxis.

摘要

尽管有大量学术遗产批评参与发展，但参与与赋权之间的关系仍不清楚。Adelanto 是墨西哥恰帕斯州的一个小型非政府组织，致力于激进的参与式社区发展。使用民族志方法，我们检查了 Adelanto 的政治化参与方法，分析了试图将激进参与与赋权联系起来的假设。我们的研究结果表明，Adelanto 致力于采用由团结定义的参与式方法，这对于他们成功推进参与者的自我动员至关重要。这些结果通过证明向下问责在地方发展实践中的中心地位，代表了对参与、赋权和解放之间联系的新见解。